Key Facts

Key Facts

Key Facts

Key Facts

Key Facts

Key Facts

full title · And Then There Were None (originally
published as
Ten Little Indians)

author · Agatha Christie

type of work · Novel

genre · Murder mystery

language · English

time and place written · 1939,
England

date of first publication · 1939

publisher · G. P. Putnam’s Sons

narrator · The narrator is an unnamed omniscient individual.

point of view · The point of view constantly shifts back and forth
between each of the ten characters.

tone · The narrator relates the story in a dark, foreboding,
and sinister tone, and often reacts dramatically (or melodramatically)
to the events of the story.

tense · Past

setting (time) · 1930s

setting (place) · Indian Island, a fictional island off the English
coast

protagonist · Although no clear protagonist exists, Vera Claythorne
and Philip Lombard are the most fully developed characters, and
they outlive almost everyone else.

major conflict · An anonymous killer gathers a collection of strangers
on Indian Island to murder them as punishment for their past crimes.

rising action · The accusations made by the recorded voice turn the
island getaway into a scene of paranoia; the murders of Tony Marston, Mrs.
Rogers, General Macarthur, Mr. Rogers, and Emily Brent indicate
that no one will be able to escape the “Ten Little Indians” rhyme.

climax · The apparent death of Judge Wargrave and the disappearance
of Dr. Armstrong strip away any sense of order.

falling action · The murders of Blore, Lombard, and Vera, combined
with Wargrave’s confession, restore some sense of order to the chaos of
the story.

themes · The administration of justice; the effects of guilt
on one’s conscience; the danger of reliance on class distinctions

motifs · The “Ten Little Indians” poem; dreams and hallucinations

symbols · The storm; the mark on Judge Wargrave’s forehead;
food

foreshadowing · Vera’s first sight of Indian Island, which
she thinks looks sinister, hints at the trouble to come; the old
man’s warning to Blore on the train that the day of judgment is
approaching hints that Blore will soon die; the “Ten Little Indians”
poem lays out the pattern for the imminent murders; Vera’s fascination
with both the poem and the hook on her ceiling presage her eventual
decision to hang herself.